Intersex

Intersex people are individuals born with any of several variations in sex characteristics including
chromosomes, gonads, sex hormones or genitals that, according to the UN Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit the typical definitions for male or female bodies". This
range of atypical variation may be physically obvious from birth – babies may have ambiguous
reproductive organs, or at the other extreme range it is not obvious and may remain unknown to
people all their lives.

Intersex people were previously referred to as hermaphrodites or "congenital eunuchs". In the 19th
and 20th centuries, some medical experts devised new nomenclature in an attempt to classify the
characteristics that they had observed. It was the first attempt at creating a taxonomic classification
system of intersex conditions. Intersex people were categorized as either having true
hermaphroditism, female pseudohermaphroditism, or male pseudohermaphroditism. These terms
are no longer used: terms including the word "hermaphrodite" are considered to be misleading,
stigmatizing, and scientifically specious in reference to humans. A hermaphrodite is now defined as
"an animal or plant having both male and female reproductive organs". In 1917, Richard Goldschmidt
created the term intersexuality to refer to a variety of physical sex ambiguities. In clinical settings, the
term "disorders of sex development" (DSD) has been used since 2006. This shift has been
controversial since the label was introduced.

Intersex people face stigmatization and discrimination from birth, or from discovery of an intersex
trait, such as from puberty. This may include infanticide, abandonment and the stigmatization of
families.Globally, some intersex infants and children, such as those with ambiguous outer genitalia,
are surgically or hormonally altered to create more socially acceptable sex characteristics. However,
this is considered controversial, with no firm evidence of favorable outcomes. Such treatments may
involve sterilization. Adults, including elite female athletes, have also been subjects of such
treatment. Increasingly, these issues are considered human rights abuses, with statements from
international and national human rights and ethics institutions (see intersex human rights). Intersex
organizations have also issued statements about human rights violations, including the 2013 Malta
declaration of the third International Intersex Forum.

Some intersex persons may be assigned and raised as a girl or boy but then identify with another
gender later in life, while most continue to identify with their assigned sex. In 2011, Christiane Völling
became the first intersex person known to have successfully sued for damages in a case brought for
non-consensual surgical intervention.[ In April 2015, Malta became the first country to outlaw non-
consensual medical interventions to modify sex anatomy, including that of intersex people.

Definitions
According to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights:

Intersex people are born with sex characteristics (including genitals, gonads and chromosome
patterns) that do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies. Intersex is an umbrella term
used to describe a wide range of natural bodily variations. In some cases, intersex traits are visible at
birth while in others, they are not apparent until puberty. Some chromosomal intersex variations
may not be physically apparent at all.

According to World Health Organization: Intersex is defined as a congenital anomaly of the

reproductive and sexual system. An estimate about the birth prevalence of intersex is difficult to
make because there are no concrete parameters to the definition of intersex.

In biological terms, sex may be determined by a number of factors present at birth, including:

the number and type of sex chromosomes,

the type of gonads—ovaries or testicles,

sex hormone levels,

the internal reproductive anatomy (such as the uterus in females), and

the external genitalia.

People whose characteristics are not either all typically male or all typically female at birth are
intersex.

Some intersex traits are not always visible at birth; some babies may be born with ambiguous
genitals, while others may have ambiguous internal organs (testes and ovaries). Others will not
become aware that they are intersex unless they receive genetic testing, because it does not
manifest in their phenotype.